Earthquake in Morocco | “Life is over here”

In Morocco, where a violent earthquake has already killed more than 2,100 people southwest of Marrakech on Friday evening, a race against time is underway to save as many lives as possible. But while rescuers are stepping up the search and humanitarian aid is mobilizing around the world, an aftershock rocked the country again on Sunday, making the reconstruction challenge even greater.

The ground shook again

A new 3.9 magnitude quake hit Moroccans on Sunday as they prayed for the victims of the strongest quake to rock the country in more than a century and worked to rescue survivors. The earthquake late Friday evening was magnitude 7. So far, more than 2,100 people have died, but the death toll is still expected to rise. On Sunday, at least 2,059 people were injured, including 1,404 seriously, according to the latest data from the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior. A sign of national distress: many homeless people slept outside on Saturday and Sunday, in the streets of the ancient city of Marrakech or even under makeshift shelters in villages in the Atlas mountains.

Apocalyptic landscape and destitute villagers

More than 18,000 families were affected by the earthquake in the province of Al-Haouz, the epicenter of the earthquake south of Marrakech, according to public television. In several villages, tents have been erected to shelter them. In Tikht, a small village near Adassil, a minaret and a handful of unpainted clay houses stand amid an apocalyptic landscape. “Life is over here,” laments Mohssin Aksum, 33, a resident. “The village is dead. »

In Tafeghaghte, another almost completely destroyed village, rescuers were able to remove a body from a house in ruins, according to an AFP team. But four others are still buried under rubble, according to residents. “Everyone is gone, my heart hurts, I am inconsolable”, collapses in tears, Zahra Benbrik, 62, who testifies to having lost 18 loved ones. Destitute villagers in this province complain about the lack of help from the authorities after the violent earthquake in Morocco. An insurance broker from Agadir, Maria Boujdig, loaded her car with foodstuffs and drove more than 200 km to distribute them to the inhabitants of Tafeghaghte. “The tragedy of death is accentuated by the poor conditions of the survivors. It’s catastrophic and serious to be hungry in these conditions! In a suburb of Marrakech, a line of small trucks forms in front of a supermarket, gradually filled with 10 kg bags of flour, packs of water, milk, orange juice or other foodstuffs bought by local residents. and brought by overflowing shopping carts. Several associations are on the move, including Draw Smile and Lions International, to help the devastated villages.

The most urgent

“What is most urgent is to save as many lives as possible,” reiterates the Quebec vice-president of the Canadian Red Cross, Pascal Mathieu. Being in constant contact with the Moroccan Red Crescent, a member society of the Red Cross, he calls on Canadians to give large organizations the “quickest and most effective way to help on the ground” to redirect the right resources in the right place, at the right time. “As for people who would like to go there to help, we remind you that the authorities there already have their hands full coordinating the aid. If well-meaning but badly organized people show up, it does more harm than anything. In short, avoid cluttering the line by showing up in Morocco, it’s really important,” adds Mr. Mathieu.

Loss of access to drinking water

For the director of international operations at Médecins du monde Canada, Manon Hourdin, it is obvious that Morocco is currently facing a breakdown in access to drinking water in several sectors. The situation is particularly worrying in the villages of the Atlas which were already on the alert in connection with food insecurity before the earthquake. “In Marrakech, there is already a whole response in place, but in several villages where we still have no access, it is something else. Several pipes have been broken, so it is certain that there is a loss of access to drinking water,” she explains. “The important thing will be to quickly distribute drinking water and soap, especially if wells and other systems used locally are affected. Hygiene conditions can then deteriorate quickly and this can facilitate the formation of epidemics, as is often seen during earthquakes or natural disasters,” adds M.^me Hourdin.

Ottawa “will be there” to help

In Ottawa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, promised Sunday that the Canadian government “will be there” to financially support the Moroccans in the reconstruction of the country, without however specifying the extent of this aid. At the end of the day, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) reiterated that the Canadian government was “ready to help the Moroccan people during this difficult time.” Ottawa says it is in contact with around 50 Canadian citizens in Morocco. According to the latest available information, no Canadians were injured or killed in the earthquake. So far, dozens of countries have offered support to Morocco, including France, Switzerland, the United States, Belgium, Turkey and Poland, to name a few. Even neighboring Algeria, with stormy relations with Morocco, has opened its airspace, closed for two years, to flights transporting aid and the wounded. Sunday evening, Morocco announced that it had responded favorably, “at this stage”, to offers from four countries “to send search and rescue teams”: Spain, Great Britain, Qatar and the Arab Emirates. United. The Interior Ministry added that other offers could be accepted in the future “should needs evolve”. Earlier, Moroccans complained on social media that the government was not allowing foreign teams to enter the country to provide aid.

Will roads need to be rebuilt?

So far, access to Marrakech is not a problem, but access to certain streets in the medinas is sometimes more so due to many collapsed buildings, says Pascal Mathieu. “It’s the same for access to several villages, often on steep mountainous roads. Rescue can therefore sometimes involve helicopters, which is longer and more expensive,” he says. For several years, the Red Cross has also had drones to assess the state of the territory, after an earthquake, before going there. “It allows us to be much better equipped when we arrive on the scene,” maintains the Quebec vice-president on this subject.

A challenge for the health system

From the outset, the good news is that the major hospitals in Agadir and Marrakech were not affected, specifies Manon Hourdin. “It’s a big advantage. Afterwards, in the coming days, the important thing will be to avoid a break in the continuum of care. We will have to continue to respond to emergencies while maintaining care for chronic illnesses or access to medications, for example,” she says. Médecins du monde will also ensure access to contraception among women to avoid unwanted pregnancies, “which often increase during such crises”, recalls the manager. “On the mental health side, we also know that in the long term, needs will grow over time as certain things come to the surface,” she adds on this subject.

What is happening to the electricity grid? Should we cut the power?

Generally speaking, when an earthquake of this power occurs, “the authorities will cut off the power and gas supply in large cities to avoid creating fires or other accidents,” explains Pascal Mathieu. Resources are then put in place to centralize energy production. In the countryside or rural region, however, the issue can be more complicated. “If the electricity supply is not already cut off, we will not necessarily interrupt it if there is no immediate danger. Nor should health or security systems be prevented from functioning. It’s really an assessment that is made on a case-by-case basis,” concludes the vice-president of the Canadian Red Cross.

With Agence France-Presse